Imokilly has created a strong 'bond' among all its clubs
Reigning county champions Imokilly and Avondhu meet at Church Road on Saturday (7pm) in the first of the weekend's semi-finals, with the second semi between UCC and Muskerry pencilled in for Sunday, 7pm, in Riverstown.
The last-four pairings are a repeat of the same stage of the divisions/colleges competition from 12 months ago. Muskerry and UCC was tight on that occasion, Imokilly and Avondhu was not.
This evening's game represents the opening tie of Imokilly's county title defence. The promotion of Watergrasshill from Premier Intermediate to Senior A means Daire O'Leary, Sean Desmond, and Adam Murphy - all starters on Denis Ring's side last autumn - are not eligible for divisional involvement in 2025.
Still eligible and still hungry for involvement, despite all they have achieved in East Cork colours, are the long and dutiful serving Brian Lawton, Bill Cooper, and John Cronin.
'I suppose a different version, maybe, of The Last Dance with Michael Jordan,' quips Cronin of these mid-to-late thirty-somethings going again for a fifth Imokilly county since 2017.
With too many divisions failing to field teams during the round-robin phase of the divisions/colleges section, or having to pull their involvement last minute because of dictatorial club managers, Imokilly remains an out-on-its-own market leader for how a division correctly goes about its business to ensure maximum buy-in from available players and maximum co-operation from relevant managers.
'It would be very easy now for the likes of the bigger clubs to pull players left and right, but what I would say is, in Imokilly, they always look to have open lines of communication with all clubs, which makes an awful difference,' says Lisgoold clubman Cronin, who was at half-back on last year's all-conquering side.
'It would be easy to pull the plug on a Monday night and say, 'Oh, I can't make it to Imokilly training,' but fellas want to make it and that's the big difference.
'The fellas want to make it because, I suppose, look, the success was great, but even prior to the success, I remember as a 16 or 17-year-old, getting my first call off Ronan Dwane. My brother was playing at the time, and I said I was only mad to play. Imokilly has created that bond among all its clubs.
'It's great to see, in fairness, and hopefully long may it continue.'
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